Politics is tough, but women are tougher

I’m not trying to throw a pity party nor am I dismissing the social construct men go through daily, especially men of color, but damn it’s tough to be a woman lately. Every time we make waves of progress, incompetent men who are ironically placed in positions of power aggressively tries to break down the movement entirely. Just last week, our President, a man who has been accused of sexual assault by countless women over the years on top of inappropriate comments during the Miss America scandals, mocked the #MeToo movement. (And Superman, I’m talking about you, too.) The dismantling of Roe v. Wade is a threat to all women if . Making abortion illegal will not stop abortions. It will only stop safe abortions. Pro-choice does not mean I am for abortion. It means I will always fight for her rights to choose.

We write today as Yale Law students, alumni, and educators ashamed of our alma mater. Within an hour of Donald Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Brett Kavanaugh, YLS ‘90, to the Supreme Court, the law school published a press release boasting of its alumnus’s accomplishment. The school’s post included quotes from Yale Law School professors about Judge Kavanaugh’s intellect, influence and mentorship of their students.

Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination presents an emergency — for democratic life, for our safety and freedom, for the future of our country. His nomination is not an interesting intellectual exercise to be debated amongst classmates and scholars in seminar. Support for Judge Kavanaugh is not apolitical. It is a political choice about the meaning of the constitution and our vision of democracy, a choice with real consequences for real people. Without a doubt, Judge Kavanaugh is a threat to the most vulnerable. He is a threat to many of us, despite the privilege bestowed by our education, simply because of who we are.

Since his campaign launched, Trump has repeatedly promised to appoint justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Overturning that decision would endanger the lives of countless people who need or may need abortions — including many who sign this letter. Trump’s nomination of Judge Kavanaugh is a reliable way to fulfill his oath. Just a few months ago, Judge Kavanaugh ruled to deny a detained immigrant minor her constitutional right to abortion. Decades-old Supreme Court precedent makes clear that the government may not place an undue burden on a pregnant person’s access to abortion. But Judge Kavanaugh clearly did not feel constrained by precedent: what could be a greater obstacle than a cage? The minor had never wavered in her decision to seek an abortion and had received a judicial bypass from a state judge who found that she was competent to make the decision. Yet Kavanaugh condescendingly and disingenuously held that she must wait weeks until she was in a “better place” to make a choice about her own bodily autonomy — at which point she might not be able to have a legal abortion. Further, Kavanaugh argued that to require immigration authorities to stop blocking her from accessing this right would force the government into complicity.”

Are you pro-life, or are you pro-fetus?

You care about every life, every child, or only fetuses in the womb? If the child grows up to be a member of the LGBTQ community, will you condemn them to the depths of hell? And God forbid if the child happens to be refuge or and immigrant. You can’t pick and choose which life is more valuable. I’m sick of pro-lifers ignoring the fact that we have over 600,000 children in foster care on top of the 15 million children live below the poverty line. You care about them until they become people, people with opinions, ideas, dreams, and needs for higher education. Spare me the lecture on not having sex if you don’t want children. It’s funny how people have to authorize to be an organ donor after death. So basically, a dead person has more rights than a woman over her own body. Don’t @ me.

Don’t wait for leaders, become them.

I know it’s exhausting, but we have come too far to quit now. This is for all the inspirational women who have stood up for the cause, past and present. Women like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gives me hope. This is for us. For the future generation and the kids that will come after us. I refuse to let them down. To let myself down. It may be a scary time, but together we are fearless. On nights like these, I sit here and wonder what will the future be like for our future children if I don’t act now? What can I do to make my voice be heard? It’s time to organize. If you are outraged by this repulsive administration and the violence against women nationwide, please keep that same energy and take it to the polls this November. Raise awareness, get excited. Do something.

Men or quality do not fear equality.

And to the men and boys who still think we give a damn about your opinions on OUR body, repeat after me. Women don’t owe you shit. Not a smile, not a glance, a nod, a text message. Nothing. It’s’ the end of an era. It’s 2018. We respecting women now. Get with the times or fall back. I have zero patience for those who still think we live in 1959.